Billy's Balkanization Blog

What to do when you catch an illegal immigrant.

Here are some tips on how you can avoid having to hire illegal immigrants without getting your business shut down by the federal government or bankrupted by lawsuits on behalf of the invaders.

One of the toughest tightropes for an employer to walk is one they encounter when completing the Form I-9 for new hires. Strict regulations govern completion of the form.

Employers often fear the consequences of hiring an “unauthorized” worker so much that they can be too public and vocal in their efforts to avoid hiring nonWhites. This is better for America and our people, but should be done carefully and quietly, or else it might result in an investigation (and possible fines) by the anti-White governmental Office of Special Counsel for Unfair Immigration-Related Employment Practices (OSC).

Because it is such a balancing act, employers often wonder how closely they can or should look at the documents presented by employees to prove their identity and work authorization.

Every employer should develop as clear a policy as possible when it comes to the Form I-9, and the policy should set forth rules to follow when reviewing documents. Here are the basic legal parameters:

You are not expected to be a document expert. Apply common sense and your experience when reviewing documents. If you have seen hundreds of green cards, and today’s green card looks and feels different from the ones you have seen previously, additional research or investigation may be warranted.

You are expected to carefully review original documents (not copies, with the sole exception being a certified copy of a birth certificate).

You must ensure that the documents reasonably appear to be genuine.

You must ensure that the documents reasonably appear to relate to the person who presented them. Remember people can change their appearance, so the photo on a document may not look exactly like the employee. But if, for example, an employee is obviously quite young, and her driver’s license says that she is 75 years old, you may have to reject the document.

Any document containing an expiration date must be unexpired at the time of presentation. Even if the document expired yesterday, you cannot accept it today. Remember later that this does not mean that you must “reverify” when documents expire; you only need to reverify if an employee’s work authorization expires or if an employee presented a receipt for a lost, stolen, or damaged document.

If you use E-Verify, you cannot accept a List B document if it does not contain a photo. This typically becomes an issue only when employees present Native American tribal documents or voter registration cards.

If you feel uncertain about whether a document is genuine, you need not necessarily make that call on the spot. You can make a clear copy of the front and back of the document and have your supervisor or an immigration attorney review the document. This is a good option when an employee presents a type of document that you have not seen before or when a document “just doesn’t look right” to you but you cannot articulate the reason why.

If a document does not pass your initial review, you can apply additional scrutiny to the document, analyzing it more closely to list all of the reasons that you believe it to be a fake. Many employers opt to have an immigration expert review documents that do not pass the initial review; this gives them peace of mind that they have not rejected genuine documents.

If you reject documents that appear not to be genuine, you may either allow the employee an opportunity to present different documents (later terminating the individual’s employment if he or she is unable to do so); or terminate the worker’s employment if and only if presentation of false documents violates your company’s dishonesty policy and other employees would face termination for similar conduct.

To give yourself additional peace of mind, consider signing up for E-Verify. E-Verify is a federal program that allows employer to submit information from an employee’s I-9 to the federal government for confirmation that the employee is work-authorized.

The E-Verify system includes a photo-match tool for certain documents. This tool provides the photograph that the government has on file from an employee’s document so that you can match it against the document the employee provided. E-Verify is not 100% accurate, but it does provide additional assurance that an employee’s documents are genuine and that the employee is authorized to work.

About Billy:

An author of both fiction and nonfiction books, Billy Roper is a former high school and junior high History, Civics, Economics, and Geography teacher. He has been a candidate for public office, a lifelong political activist, leader, and spokesman. Mr. Roper has a Bachelor's degree in History and Political Science and a Master of Liberal Arts degree in History with a specialty in Anthropology. He currently resides with his wife, stepson, and other animals in what will become New America. Mr. Roper may be reached through e-mail at roper_billy@yahoo.com.